Walgreens

I think I may have finally been swayed to shop at Walgreens! I heard that they had a $10 off coupon for the 2009 Entertainment book, and for spending $25 you receive $5 in RR(Register Reward-a coupon for next time)

So I paid $20, the book was $30, and received 5RR and the book has over $18,000 worth of coupons! Not a bad deal at all! This was part of WAGS 4-day sale.

The Thrifty Mama

Crystal, an awesome VERY thrifty mama has one of the greatest blogs! She has just reached 100 followers and counting. Her blog, the thriftymama.com has so much to offer. She gives scenarios for CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Target and several grocery stores in the South. She also links to freebies/samples, has awesome giveaways and she is super helpful. Her blog really has a great variety of thriftyness for everyone! (Did I make up a new word?)

So check it out and tell her I sent you!

Thrifty Holiday fun with kids!

I have had a few friends tell me that they are short on cash around the holidays and cannot afford to do fun things with their kids. I have a few ideas that hopefully will make the holidays memorable for your kids:

*My girls love to bake, so we often bake from scratch and have treats to enjoy! You can even make cookies to put in tins or for gifts for teachers. One thing I love is fudge and it is super easy!

1 Can sweetened condensed milk
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Just heat in a pan until they are melted, continually stirring. You can add in nuts, raisins, candy, dried fruit etc. Then you put in a greased pan in the fridge or you can use cookie cutters as a mold(put wax paper over a cookie sheet and fill cookie cutters, have kids decorate and the refridgerate)

*Making homemade ornaments/crafts. I have so many craft supplies and scrapbooking things I could open my own store. This year we have decided to let the kids make their own ornaments for the tree. I even told my daughter that she could invite a friend over to help!

*Family movie or game night: We do this often with our girls and they usually choose a movie they have already seen. We get in our pj's, make popcorn, and cuddle on the floor with blankets and pillows! Great family bonding time!

*Look around your community for free/cheap things to do. My daughters school recently sent a flier home from the local library for a free holiday craft night! You can bet we will be there!

Leave me your favorite thrifty thing to do with the kids!

A few of my finds this week

A few things I've stumbled upon this week:

*I was shopping at Michaels for craft things for the kids and my CRT, printed out a 40% coupon to be used Dec 7th-13th on any one item. I think I'll use it on the Crayola marker set that is 19.99. My daughters will love that from Santa.

*Since I am in love with my new Keurig coffee pot, Big Y has the Green Mountain or Caribou coffee K-cups on sale for 5.99. I had a bunch of 1.50 coupons, so I paid 4.49 a box, not a bad deal!

*Target: Watch your mailbox, for $10 off $100 purchase! This came in handy when I was buying some stocking stuffers and gifts for the in laws and my mom!

Price Chopper-Double Dairy Coupons

In the Price Chopper home mailer, there are three double coupons on dairy items in honor of Dairy month, they will each double up to $3! So that is sweet! Now I need to check out what kind of coupons I have!

Big Y Rise & Shine Deals!

Big Y is having a build a better breakfast sale and there are some great deals:

Large White Eggs BOGO
Thomas' English muffins BOGO (I am going to buy a lot and freeze them!)
4 lb bag of Caligornia sweet Navel oranges BOGO
Big Y Bagels BOGO
Cinnamon toast Crunch 3 for $6
Bananas .48 a lb

There is not much else that is super great on sale this week, but this is what I see!

Black Friday- Door Busters

Since I am almost finished my shopping, I wasn't in desperate need of anything. I hit Wal mart with just my youngest in tow at about 8 am. Here is what I bought:

Kung-Fu Panda $9
Baby Alive Sip & Slurp $10(for my sister to give to my DD)
2- Pixos starter pens $10 each
1 Barbie roadster w/doll $10 (for my four year old for her birthday in Jan)

I was pretty psyched that I got these great deals!


Then I took my three girls to BRU for Christmas pictures and they had a fabulous door buster until 1 pm! The BRU brand of supreme diapers were $10 a case, with a limit of 3! I only grabbed two, but 200 for $20!!!

CVS Trip Thanksgiving Morning!

So I had a great trip to CVS yesterday morning! After I put the turkey in the oven and unloaded the dishwasher, I grabbed my youngest daughter and we headed out to CVS before 9am. Not only did they have everything, the store was so quiet!

This is what I got:

Transaction 1:

2 Bic Soleil- 5.99= 11.98
3 Gatorade- 1.49= 4.47
2 Aussie 2.99= 6.98
2 Colgate 2.99= 6.98
1 Johnsons lotion=5.69
2 L'oreal lip color 6.99=13.98
1 Covergirl pressed powder=5.99
1 Covergirl foundation=6.99
1 Mr. Goodbar= 1.00
1 Sally Hansen Nail color=3.69
1 Playtex Gentle Glide= 3.99

After ECB's and coupons, I paid about 21.XX oop and I received almost $70 in ECB!

Transaction 2:

4 Oral B, kids power toothbrushes

I had two BOGO, free coupons, plus4/$1 off coupons, after I used one ECB for 11.98, oop was .06!!!!

I am so glad I was able to go yesterday and not today! I'll be they were out of a lot today!

Giving Thanks!

Since I know the next few days will be busy, I'd like to give thanks before it get too crazy.

First of all, I am thankful that I have three beautiful, healthy daughters.

I am thankful for my hard working dedicated husband, Lou. Sometimes marriage is not easy, but we have definatley weathered the hard times and it has been so worth it.

I am thankful that I was able to rise above the ashes and conquer my three year battle with depression. It really is true, that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I am thankful that my parents helped make me into a strong, independent, successful woman. I teach school in an urban area and what I see on a daily basis, really makes me thankful.

I am thankful that in these hard times, we have been spared. We both have steady, secure jobs.

And finally, I am thankful that I found many of my online friends who have been a great support to me on so many levels..emotionally, learning to be thrifty...the list goes on and on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Green Toys

One of my missions last Christmas was to purge our house of so many plastic toys and get my girls some good quality toys. I did spend a bit more, but most of the gifts were a big hit with everyone that came to my house.

A few of my favorites were a set of rainbow arches from www.atoygarden.com. They were pricey, but all the dads that visit have a lot of fun with them. They have become corrals or pens for animals, pretend horses, and lots more.

I also love any of the Haba blocks, from www.oompa.com. My girls love building castles, houses, and villages.

And finally, we had bought a great set of wooden sticks from www.palumba.com. My fifteen year old nephew had a blast with them, building all kinds of architechture!

However, this year my girls are really into Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop. So in our attmept to be modest with Christmas and humble our girls a bit, since I feel blessed compare to a lot of people, we buy each girls three gifts and fill their stockings. Anywho, my green gift for this year is a green tea set from TRU! It is made form recycled milk jugs, BPA free, and the kids can really drink from it without worrying!

I know this is worthless without pictures! I still have a lot to learn:) But if you are really interested in more about green toys, a friend of mine, has an awesome blog the really gets into green toys, it is called: saras-toy-box.blogspot.com. She is awesome and super intelligent mom and she shares lots of coupon codes!!! Check her out, she has been blogging for over a year!

CVS was generous!!!

I stopped at CVS so I could get the Right Guard, Maybelline and 2 Crest. I scanned my card in the machine and it spit out 4 coupons!!!! One is for 10/$50!!!! I am so psyched since I will definitely use this on the Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving.

So today I changed up my plan a bit and bought 2 Maybelline mineral powder since I now could use a $4/20 that I had from e-mail!

Here is what I bought:

2 Maybelline Mineral powder 8.99 17.98
Right Guard 7.99
2 Crest pro health 3.49 6.98

I used:

-2 off Maybelline
-1 off Crest
-1 off Crest
-4/$20 beauty purchase
-15 ECB

oop w/ tax was 10.XX, so not super great but not bad either. I earned 17.98 ECB and 6.98 ECB. The ECB's for the Right Guard aren't printing, so she gave me $7 cash, which I added to my envelope for Thursday!

I will be back later with my CVS Black Friday scenario's!

Keurig coffee pot

So this wasn't exactly a thrifty purchase, but it will save us money in the long run. I hit Dunkin Donuts every morning for an iced coffee at $2.32! So add that up by a month and it is well over $65! And we make Lou's coffee at home, but occasionally one of us is lazy and forgets to set the coffee pot,so he'll buy then too!

I had a few gift cards from Target that I got for various purchases and I was saving them fro Christmas prsents for the girls, but the toy deals were better else where, so I splurged.

I have to say that I am in love with it! It is the perfect cup every time and I love the different flavors. I also love that you can make tea and hot chocolate, as well a cup of decaf that my MIL can drink!

We are saving up now to buy the K filter, so we can brew our own cup of dunkin right at home for a small fraction of the cost!

I guess this is my early Christmas present!

BTW, it was $99 at Target and it came with an 18 cup sampler pack, probably valued at 9.99. However last night my hubby and I saw a little bit of an upgraded model at BJ's Wholesale Club for $129 with 70 K-cups! Just keeping you posted on the deals!

Weekend ramblings

So I've been taking a small break from posting and from my thrifty deals. Last night I had a date with my DH and it felt so good. We went out for dinner, did a little Christmas shopping, and stopped at a freinds house for a few drinks. We we got home all three girls were sleeping and slept till 8 this morning, so we were happy!

I am hitting CVS tommorrow to get:

2 Crest toothpastes
1 Maybelline
1 Right Gaurd

I'll spend 15 ECB's, but I will get back about 23 ECB for Black Friday.

This week I also took a break from Big Y and Price Chopper since we all pretty stocked up on food. I will be hitting PC on Tues to get my makings for Thanksgiving.

So keep checking back for my CVS Black Friday scenario and my PC deals.

CVS Alert

Check your e-mails! I just received a $4/$20, beauty purchase, in store coupon that expires, 12/4! This can hopefully come in handy for Black Friday!!!!!

Cooking Tip

I thought that with Thanksgiving next week, I'd try and post some time saving cooking hints/tips. And since I am cooking for everyone and working at the same time, maybe I'll get some feedback from my very few readers! I'd love more!

I learned this trick from my friend Lynette for cooking potatoes and I love it. Not only is it super easy, but the potatoes have a great flavor! I wash the potatoes and boil them whole. They are done when the skins start to split. Then they easily slip out of the skins and you can dice them for a potato salad or mash! I love this because, I hated to peel potatoes and it also keeps the potato flavor, instead of tasting water logged, as I sometimes do!

What is your timesaving tip?

CVS $10 Gift Card Giveaway!

My friend, Karen at frugalrimama.blogspot.com is giving away a $10 CVS gift card. I am so excited since I will probably get most of my stocking stuffers at CVS! The great thing is that you can enter up to five times! Go check out her blog for all the details!

BigY/CVS Haul 11/16

Well yesterday we had my daughter's birthday party. (Yes, my baby will be 2 tomorrow) While I am now exhausted after the festivities yesterday and shopping all day, I have a few great deals to share.

Big Y:

I mentioned earlier that they are doubling coupons up to $1 this week(maximum of 5). Well there are a few freebies after coupons.

Betty Crocker, boxed potatoes(not the potato buds) are 12/$12. If you have the coupons for $1/2, once it is doubled you can get them for free!

Green Giant boxed veggies are also 12/$12. Again with the coupons for $1 off, they are free and possibly an overage. I am not sure if Big Y does overages.

Also, 90% lean ground beef is bogo, as is Perdue boneless chicken breasts.



CVS ALERT!!!!

My CVS had a tear pad with a CVS coupon for $5 off 2 packages of Duracell batteries, with the coupons in the paper for $1.50 and the $15 ECB after spending 20, this is a great deal.

I am saving my ECB for Thanksgiving/Black Friday specials!

Frugal RI Mama

I just wanted to give a shout out to Karen, at frugalri mama.blogspot.com. Not only is this one of my favorite blogs, but she is also a local mama. This is an awesome blog, in which Karen nor only gives many ways to save money or make money online, but she has some of the best links to freebies! Check it out at frugalri mama.blogspot.com(leave out the spaces). Thanks Karen for all of your hard work!

What are some of your favorite sites? Leave me a link in the comment section!

Big Y doubles coupons!

I ran into Stop & Shop, since they are the only store around me that carries Muir Glen tomato paste and I had four $1 off coupons. As I was leaving, they had the free newspaper that is put out every Wednesday and they usually have sale fliers and coupons. I grabbed two and when I got to the car I was psyched to see that the Big Y flier had five double coupons! They will double any manufacturs coupon up to a $1. So if you plan it accordingly, you can save $10! I sure will be going through my coupons to see what I can get for free or overage. I'll post scenarios shortly. I hope I can do this more than one time!

So it has been crazy...

I honestly have not had a chance to post much, but since I have today off, I'll update on my thrifty finds this week.

Big Y:

I stocked up on the meat sale, since we just got a stand up freezer from my friend Bev, for FREE! Most of the meat was buy one, get two free, so we have a lot of ground turkey, whole chickens, and boneless chicken. I also bought a bunch of the Green Giant steamers and Big Y butter quarters. It feels so good having a huge stockpile in the freezer.

As far as other things at Big Y, the Russet potatoes and onions were also buy one bag get two free. I am excited for this, because Sat is Victoria's 2nd birthday party and I will be making a big potato salad!

A few other things:

Juicy Juice 4/$10(great if you have coupons)

I think after Lou gets home, I will be running back to Big Y for more steamers and Juicy Juice!

This week I spent $96.XX, however I saved 98.XX, so I cut my bill in half!


Price Chopper:

I love PC for a few reasons besides some great sales and clip and chop coupons that come in the paper. They have a great rewards system that is linked to my scan card when I buy certain products the money goes to my daughter's school. And I also get money off a gallon of gas for up to 20 gallons for every $50 I spend! Right now I am paying 2.07 or less for gas!

This week in the paper, there were 4 clip and chop coupons:

1 gallon of Price Chopper milk: 2.49
1 dozen PC eggs: .99
Buy 10 Gatorades for $10, get 2 free(my hubby loves this for work)
Chex cereal 3/$5, plus I used some coupons (this is Victoria's favorite munchy snack that I 'll be making for her party)

PC also has Juicy Juice 2/$5.

Gnu Bar Giveaway contest!

My friend Crystal @ the thrifty mama, is having an awesome giveaway for these fiber bars from Gnu! Details are on her blog http://www.thethriftymama.com/. Check it out!

Big Y deals and Thursday ramblings

Well, I've been pretty busy the past few days with work and the quarter ending. We have a new computer program for our grades and it has been a big project. I finally am finished inputing and now I can relax somewhat. It is also raining here, so there is not a whole lot to do.

While I wait in my car for my daughter to get off the bus, I usually go through the mail and peruse the sale fliers. Big Y has the Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers, 10/$10 and I know that I have a ton of coupons, so I'll be getting some of those.

They also have a great buy one, get two free sale. Here are some of the things that you can get:

Perdue ground turkey
Idaho russet potatoes
Cabot butter quarters
yellow onions

There are also a lot of canned goods and baking things, BOG2F. Since I am hosting Thanksgiving, I will be stocking up on some stuff!

I really love the great sales at Big Y. Sometimes that have a Wacky Weekend or Freaky Friday Sale. A few weeks ago I paid 1.88 for a case of Poland Spring water. Also whole chickens were .67 a pound and loaves of bread were .50!

Big Y also randomly gives coins away (silver, red, blue or gold) and you can get the featured items of the month for free or money off with certain coins!

They do not double coupons, but they are very family friendly. I've had numerous cashiers help me to my car with my three girls and a cart of groceries!

Sunday CVS Haul!

Well yesterday my mom took my oldest two girls, so they could bake me a cake for my birthday(tomorrow!), so I ran to CVS and The Children's Place, because I had a coupon that was expiring.

TCP did not have much left in the sizes I needed, but I did grab my girls a few things for Christmas presents and each a shirt for Christmas card pictures. They had a lot of infant stuff left and everything on the clearance racks were 50% the lowest price and I had a 15% coupon on top of that. I bought 2 skirts, a dress, 4 shirts, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 belts and 2 pairs of tights, for $78. And I forgot to have them scan my Place Perks card, so I am going to go back and see if they will do it for me. A few months ago, I got a surprise $20 Gift Card in the mail since I hit a certain amount, not bad by me!

Then CVS was another story, I was thrilled when I got a 5/$30 from the machine!!! But they only had 4 packs of Ice Breakers left! I managed to spend thirty anyways, and after coupons and ECB's, I paid 7.25 out of pockets and earned 3.49 ECB.

I bought:

1 Crest Pro Health
3 Dawn
4 J&J Buddies
1 Advil PM
4 Ice Breakers
A newspaper for more coupons
and a few other filler things( a few pops for my DD)

So I hit another CVS on the way to pick up my girls at my mom's and I bought 10 more packs of Ice Breakers. I had 7 coupons for $1/2, so I paid $7 for the gum and got 5ECB back! I also grabbed another Crest and a Dawn. I had forgotten my ECB's in the car, but after coupons I paid like $6, but I earned $5 and $3.49.

AND...(I bet you thought I was done) we needed diapers and I had 2 1.50 off Pampers, I decided to grab 2 packages. After my two coupons and ECB's, it was around $8 for both packages and I earned another $5 ECB for spending 20 on Pampers. Not a bad deal if you have coupons and ECB's to roll!

So all in all I spend, around $20 OOP and I still have $5 and 3.49 ECB's. It wasn't too bad for a week that I wasn't in love with. The gum will be stocking stuffers for all of us. I feel good having some Christmas stuff done. As a working mom you have to grab any time you can get and take advantage of it.

The best part of the day...was the carrot cake my girls and my mom baked for me! The girls also made me two homemade cards. And my mom bought me a new crockpot...YAY...mine was on the blink. And my sister gave me a GC to Old Navy!

Saturday

Saturdays are usually the day that I play catch up around my house and run errands. So far I haven't gotten much accomplished today, since it is the day after Halloween and my girls are still a bit sugared out. But to make things easier on myself, I have dinner in the crockpot, country style ribs from our pig share! I just threw in the ribs frozen and added a can of cranberry sauce, a packet of onion soup mix, and some fresh garlic(I have to have fresh garlic, in everything!) A crockpot is a working moms key to having dinner on the table. It is easy, a time saver, and can be very cheap. I usually throw meat in frozen, so that saves time defrosting. You can also use any cut of meat, and it will cook it until it melts like butter.

Now I need to run to the store and get some juice, milk, and a few other staples. I am trying to decide if I should hit Wal Mart or Target. I've heard that Target is getting strict on coupons, but Wal Mart sometimes doesn't have a great selection or deals(at least the one near me). I also need to organize my coupons and get rid of the expired ones.

So a lot to do with limited time and m three chicks running around(DH is working!) Wish me luck:)